Ten-year-old Mayte Armendariz, a sixth-grader at West Denver Preparatory, joins classmates in a writing exercise Monday. The charter school in northwest Denver shares the newly remodeled property with Lake Middle School. Nearly 90 West Denver Preparatory sixth-graders started school Monday. The school has previously posted some of the best academic growth in the state.

The state is toning down how it presents annual Colorado Student Assessment Program results, which typically are presented by the governor in a full-scale news event.

Today’s release will be much more subdued, with no governor or education commissioner appearing behind a lectern at the downtown headquarters of the Colorado Department of Education — an indication the state is shifting its focus from CSAP to a much broader look at schools through its performance reports, set for release later this year.

“We’re not running away from the story at all, just the window dressing,” said Mark Stevens, state Education Department spokesman.

The state today will have a small news conference about the CSAPs and growth results. Assistant Education Commissioner Jo O’Brien and Bill Bonk, an expert on longitudinal growth, will be on hand.

“There should still be plenty of attention on the CSAP and growth, but we feel that’s more a district story and school story,” Stevens said.

CSAP scores remain a factor in determining whether a school is achieving adequate yearly progress, a target required under the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

People can expect a bigger event in December, when the state releases its first school performance report — a look at CSAP scores, ACT results, how well schools are growing academically and whether they are preparing students for their post-secondary lives.

The reports will give schools overall grades, ranging from “accredited with distinction” at the top end to “accredited with a turnaround plan” at the bottom. The change was mandated by 2009’s Senate Bill 163, which created a new education accountability system for the state.

Jeremy P. Meyer was a reporter and editorial writer with The Denver Post until 2016. He worked at a variety of weeklies in Washington state before going to the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin as sports writer and then copy editor. He moved to the Yakima Herald-Republic as a feature writer, then to The Gazette in Colorado Springs as news reporter before landing at The Post. He covered Aurora, the environment, K-12 education, Denver city hall and eventually moved to the editorial page as a writer and columnist.